"Doctors on Strike for freedom in Medicine"

Posted by galtgulch on 07/23/09 04:55 AM

<<<"Doctors on Strike for freedom in Medicine

We have a shared interest in protecting the rights of doctors and patients as Washington politicians are poised to inject a lethal dose of statism into the heart of our healthcare system — an industry already clogged with more government control than any others. This massive dose of statism will induce grave waves of arrhythmia — inflation, price controls, doctor shortages, waiting periods, and rationing.

Something has to be done soon halt to this leftist-led, lemming-like leap into the sordid sea of statism.

Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine is a private, nonprofit, educational, and partisan-activist organization that I founded on July 4, 2009 to take on the mission of preserving, protecting, and promoting freedom in healthcare in the United States of America.

Doctors on Strike is based on the principles recognized and published in our founding document, the Declaration of Independence for Doctors:

That doctors and patients have the same inalienable individual rights that all citizens have — the right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness;
That the purpose of government is to secure individual rights, not violate them;
That individual rights impose limitations on government;
That statism in healthcare violates individual rights;
That the statist healthcare proposals being advanced by the Administration and Congress would violate individual rights and gravely threaten the viability of the healthcare system; and
That doctors, patients, and elected officials need to act — now — to preserve, protect, and promote individual rights and freedom in medicine.

Our long-term educational objective is to supply doctors and healthcare providers with the intellectual ammunition required to win the “philosophical war” against statism in medicine. The "Intellectual Ammunition" page of our website (www.doctorsonstrike.com) provides doctors and other healthcare providers with a principled, vigorous defense of freedom in medicine based a philosophy of rational self-interest, individualism, and laissez faire capitalism.

What sets Doctors on Strike apart from fine nonpartisan organizations is that we are an activist organization that can and will "take the gloves off" to take on public officials without having to worry about our tax-exempt status being revoked. This allows us the freedom to publish pointedly partisan pieces here that can't found elsewhere. We try to strike an acceptable balance between the need for objectivity in thought and the need for passion in action. Our ideal is to be passionately reasonable and reasonable passionate.

Our most pressing goal for 2009 is to help defeat the statist healthcare reform proposals presently circulating through Washington. To this end, Doctors on Strikeis actively encouraging doctors and patients to put intense political pressure on legislators during their deliberations on health care reform. And we provide the political ammunition to do this.

The Political Ammunition of our website provides convenient ways to communicate our message to legislators. We provide links to the contact information on every senator and representative. We just added a special page devoted to the 51 members of the Blue Dog Coalition--a unique resource not found anywhere else on the web. We supply sample messages that can be copied, pasted, modified, and communicated to legislators over the phone or by email, fax, or mail. The messages vary in length from once sentence to several paragraphs to suit the preferences of a diverse group of doctors and patients. The core message is the same: We demand that Congress and the Administration respect the right of doctors and patients to make private healthcare decisions without any governmental interference.

I invite participants in (Daily Paul) Objectivist Living to go to our "Political Ammunition" page see for yourself how easy we have made it for voters to tell Congress how important it is to protect freedom in healthcare. If you have not yet made your views known to your senators and representative, why not do this now? See just how easy it is and then let others know too.

Doctors on Strike just created a Petition to Protect Doctor-Patient Rights, which will be submitted to Congress and calls on them to oppose and vote against legislation that provides for any:

Public plan option,
Mandates that force individuals to buy insurance coverage,
Mandates that force employers to provide insurance coverage,
Surcharges that force some groups to pay for the healthcare of other groups,
Mandates that force doctors to participate in public plans.

We are also calling on doctors to prepare themselves to go on strike against any more government-run healthcare programs. We are calling on doctors to let the country know now that if the President signs into law any legislation that establishes another government healthcare plan, doctors will refuse to participate in any such plan, and will stop participating in all other government healthcare programs, including, but not limited to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE.

As the 2010 election cycle approaches, we will identify and work openly to support those candidates for elected offices at the state and federal level who champion individual rights and liberty in healthcare. We will also unhesitatingly identify and publicly target for defeat any candidates for elected offices who support statist public policies that violate individual rights and infringe on liberty in healthcare. We just created a page on our website, “Targeted for Defeat in 2010,” with this goal in mind.

Our blog, Doctors on Strike, regularly posts news, opinions, and humor concerning healthcare reform. Yesterday, for example, we posted the news that the fascists who dominate the House Ways and Means Committee, marking up the Health bill:

[*]Rejected 25-15 an amendment from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that would have eliminated the public plan option;
[*]Rejected 22-19 amendment from Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) that would have prevented providers from being forced to participate in the public plan;
[*]Rejected 21-18 an amendment from Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) that would have required members of Congress and their dependents to enroll in the public plan option;
[*]Rejected 21-19 an amendment from Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) that would have based payment rates on the private market, rather than on Medicare;
[*]Rejected 26-15 an amendment by Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) that would have prevented comparative effectiveness research from being used to deny care based on cost.

(Source: John Goodman’s Health Policy Blog at http://www.john-good...comment-43995.)

I am pleased to report that since we launched our website on July 4th, we have been visited by people from 553 cities in 34 countries around the world, including all 50 states in America. Our message is getting through to people interested in protecting individual rights in healthcare. Of course, we have a lot more work to do to win the near-term battle in Congress and the long-term war against statism in healthcare.

This is a war--one we cannot afford to loose. We can be allies. I am contributing intellectual and political ammunition. Grab some ammo, spread it around to friends and family, and fire off your messages to Congress. I am asking for your support by spreading the word about our organization and our message--your message.

Dr. Gregory L. Garamoni
Licensed Psychologist
Founder & Executive Director, Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
904-631-3939
www.doctorsonstrike.com
www.drgaramoni.com
garamoni@gmail.com
Obama is pushing Congress to have a bill out by July 28th--only 6 days from now! We need to push back and push back hard.

What can we do at this point?

I encourage everyone to DO SIX THINGS IN SIX DAYS to protect individual rights against the onslaught of statism:

1. Compose a message that reflects your position on the importance of protecting the rights of doctors and patients, freedom of choice, and fiscal responsibility in healthcare reform, in general, and objections to specific provisions, in particular, including the public option, mandates that force individuals to buy insurance coverage, mandates that force employers to provide insurance coverage, surcharges that force some groups to pay for the healthcare of other groups, mandates that force doctors to participate in public plans (examples of messages of varying length are provided athttp://www.doctorsonstrike.com...)

2. Call or email or fax your legislators to communicate your message by using Project Vote Smart to get the contact information on your legislators.

3. Call or email the the leadership or individual members of the Blue Dog Coalition (an influential group of fiscally conservative democrats who may have the power to defeat ObamaCare) whose contact information is provided.

4. Sign these three online petitions (you can find others on the web):

Protect Doctor-Patient Rights

Free Our Health Care Now

5. Make a YouTube video of yourself reciting “The Trader’s Oath” that I included in the Doctors Declaration of Independence: 

“I swear by my life, and my love of it, that as a doctor, as a patient, as a human being, I will forever defend the right of every doctor, every patient, every human being to be treated as a trader among traders, not a slave under masters, nor a master over slaves.”

6. Get as many of your friends, family, and acquaintances to do these same things (email them a copy of this).

Our website (www.doctorsonstrike.com) provides resources to help you do these things.

The KEY here is to have an "implementation intention" -- a plan as to when and where you are going to which of these things. A review of studies by Dr. Peter Gollwitzer shows that people who do this are much more likely to do what they intended when they had an implementation intention (e.g, breast self-exams were done more frequently by women who were asked to think through where and when they would do the exam than by women who simply intended to do a self-exam; extra credit projects over Christmas break were done more frequently by college students who decided where and when they would do the project than by students who just intended to do a project. )

So, yes, psychologists often demonstrate what is commonsense: The road to healthcare hell is paved with good intentions that don't have an implementation plan!

So when and where are you going to do these SIX THINGS IN SIX DAYS to protect your rights as a patient and those of your doctors?

PS. Just this week, the House Ways and Means Committee, marking up the Health bill:

Rejected 25-15 an amendment from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that would have eliminated the public plan option;
Rejected 22-19 amendment from Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) that would have prevented providers from being forced to participate in the public plan;
Rejected 21-18 an amendment from Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) that would have required members of Congress and their dependents to enroll in the public plan option;
Rejected 21-19 an amendment from Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) that would have based payment rates on the private market, rather than on Medicare;
Rejected 26-15 an amendment by Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) that would have prevented comparative effectiveness research from being used to deny care based on cost.
(Source: John Goodman’s Health Policy Blog at http://www.john-goodman-blog.c....)

This statist crap should convince you that we really are in a war--one we cannot afford to loose. We are all doctors and patients now. We can be allies. I am contributing some intellectual and political ammunition. Grab some ammo, spread some around to your friends and family, and fire off your message to Congress. I am asking for your support by spreading the word about our organization, Doctors on Strike, and our message.
I've now done six things in the last few days so I know you can do it, too.

Dr. Gregory L. Garamoni
Licensed Psychologist
Founder & Executive Director, Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
904-631-3939
www.doctorsonstrike.com
www.drgaramoni.com
garamoni@gma
Free Our Health Care Now

5. Make a YouTube video of yourself reciting “The Trader’s Oath” that I included in the Doctors Declaration of Independence: 

“I swear by my life, and my love of it, that as a doctor, as a patient, as a human being, I will forever defend the right of every doctor, every patient, every human being to be treated as a trader among traders, not a slave under masters, nor a master over slaves.”

6. Get as many of your friends, family, and acquaintances to do these same things (email them a copy of this).

Our website (www.doctorsonstrike.com) provides resources to help you do these things.

The KEY here is to have an "implementation intention" -- a plan as to when and where you are going to which of these things. A review of studies by Dr. Peter Gollwitzer shows that people who do this are much more likely to do what they intended when they had an implementation intention (e.g, breast self-exams were done more frequently by women who were asked to think through where and when they would do the exam than by women who simply intended to do a self-exam; extra credit projects over Christmas break were done more frequently by college students who decided where and when they would do the project than by students who just intended to do a project. )

So, yes, psychologists often demonstrate what is commonsense: The road to healthcare hell is paved with good intentions that don't have an implementation plan!

So when and where are you going to do these SIX THINGS IN SIX DAYS to protect your rights as a patient and those of your doctors?

PS. Just this week, the House Ways and Means Committee, marking up the Health bill:

Rejected 25-15 an amendment from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that would have eliminated the public plan option;
Rejected 22-19 amendment from Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) that would have prevented providers from being forced to participate in the public plan;
Rejected 21-18 an amendment from Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) that would have required members of Congress and their dependents to enroll in the public plan option;
Rejected 21-19 an amendment from Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) that would have based payment rates on the private market, rather than on Medicare;
Rejected 26-15 an amendment by Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) that would have prevented comparative effectiveness research from being used to deny care based on cost.
(Source: John Goodman’s Health Policy Blog at http://www.john-goodman-blog.c....)

This statist crap should convince you that we really are in a war--one we cannot afford to loose. We are all doctors and patients now. We can be allies. I am contributing some intellectual and political ammunition. Grab some ammo, spread some around to your friends and family, and fire off your message to Congress. I am asking for your support by spreading the word about our organization, Doctors on Strike, and our message.
I've now done six things in the last few days so I know you can do it, too.

Dr. Gregory L. Garamoni
Licensed Psychologist
Founder & Executive Director, Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
904-631-3939
www.doctorsonstrike.com
www.drgaramoni.com
garamoni@gmail.com ">>>

Here is our chance to voice our opposition to Obama's takeover of the medical profession and to support the freedom of doctors and patients to deal with each other in the marketplace.

Wm